Just over half of people born in Japan who lived in Britain in 2001 had their homes in London. In all, there were about 37,000 Japan-born people in Britain with a wide spread of clusters across the capital.

The largest cluster is right in the middle of central London – some 2,800 people in all. A band across the northern fringes of London – from Barnet to Golders Green – is home to a further 2,300.

While there has been a general increase in the numbers of Japan-born people, some areas have seen significant declines almost certainly relating to fluctuations in the Japanese industrial presence in the UK; Peterlee in County Durham and Ewell in Surrey have both seen declines in Japan-born residents.

Concentrations of people born in Japan

Map on right shows country as if areas with roughly equal populations were the same size. So, densely populated London takes up much more space than sparsely populated Scottish Highlands.

At-a-glance

37,293 people born in Japan were living in Britain at the time of the Census, representing 0.07% of the population.

9,046 more people born in Japan were living in Britain in 2001 than in 1991 – a rise of about 32%.

10 of the largest clusters – between 500 and 1,500 people – are in London boroughs

807 more Japan-born people were recorded in Acton, west London, representing the biggest change in a local area.